Improvement of chick-pea through induced mutations

Mutation induction has been used over a period of 11 years to obtain mutants of chick-pea with improved plant type and resistance to Ascochyta blight. A large number of mutants were selected. Resistance has been confirmed over several generations. One mutant (CM72) has been released for commercial cultivation and another mutant (CM88) is ready for release. The mutants have been used in cross-breeding. Different plant type mutants have been selected and evaluated. The paper discusses the results of experiments conducted during 'rabi' 1984-1985 representing the continuation and extension of previous work reported in a paper presented at the Fourth FAO/IAEA Research Co-ordination Meeting on the Use of Induced Mutations for Improvement of Grain Legume Production in South East Asia, held at Faisalabad, 3-7 March 1984. (author). 10 refs, 9 tabs